Here, you are urged and encouraged to run your mouths about something important.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

NEW YORK TIMES WRITER: RE-DISTRIBUTE WEALTH FOR OUR SOULS

Nicholas Kristof is making the charge that wealth in the United States should be re-distributed to make everyone equal because such a scenario is good for one's soul. Amazingly lost on these whack jobs is who they think should have their money confiscated and by whom - though he doesn't concede that the confiscators (the Government) is more powerful and wealthier than the richest 1% of Americans he thinks should cough up their money.

John Steinbeck observed that “a sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.”

That insight, now confirmed by epidemiological studies, is worth bearing in mind at a time of such polarizing inequality that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans possess a greater collective net worth than the bottom 90 percent.

There’s growing evidence that the toll of our stunning inequality is not just economic but also is a melancholy of the soul. The upshot appears to be high rates of violent crime, high narcotics use, high teenage birthrates and even high rates of heart disease.

That’s the argument of an important book by two distinguished British epidemiologists, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. They argue that gross inequality tears at the human psyche, creating anxiety, distrust and an array of mental and physical ailments — and they cite mountains of data to support their argument.

If you ever found yourself wondering where the 'everyone gets a trophy' mentality comes from, it's from people like this.

Again, accepting the argument that Kristof is parroting here requires Americans not to be the least bit suspicious of those who actually re-distribute the wealth. The irony is that they become even more powerful and the problem Kristof is allegedly trying to resolve is exacerbated.